


promise of a lifetime from another lifetime

by yurei_yasha



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Character Study, Dark, F/M, Haruno Sakura-centric, Past Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-08-27 20:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16709365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yurei_yasha/pseuds/yurei_yasha
Summary: A young girl meets a woman who resides deep in the forest. Strangely enough, she claims to be from the future that has yet to pass.A different type of take on time travel.





	1. Chapter 1

A young child no older than four wandered aimlessly through the woods, brushing away her tears angrily.

Her hair wasn't weird. It was pretty, Otou-san had said so! And what was wrong with having a large forehead?

She stumbled as she tripped over a root. She let out a growl of frustration and glared at the root. She had just wanted to make friends. Why was it impossible for her?! She kicked the root as hard as her small body could, but let out a scream of agony as pain shot up her leg.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, she cursed herself as she dropped to the ground to nurse her foot.

She began to simmer down after a few minutes, and seemed to take in her surroundings for the first time. Her wide eyes blinked and unease spread across her young face. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't remember how exactly she had gotten here. She was...

The girl shook her head. No, she refused to admit she was lost. She was smart, she could find her way out of this mess. She stood up with more determination than she felt and began traversing through the greenery.

The afternoon sun filtered through the trees, illuminating patches of light among the rocks and moss that littered the forest floor. Had she been in any other situation, the girl might have appreciated the peaceful scenery before her.

The further time ticked on, the more nervous she became. She whimpered helplessly as her eyes flickered frantically around. She was lost, she was lost. She shouldn't have moved the moment she had realized this. She took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself. It would be okay. Otou-san and Okaa-san would come looking for her.

The girl jumped as she felt something brush against her ankles. Her arms waved in a valiant attempt to regain her balance, but could only brace herself against the fall. The girl winced at the impact, but her eyes were drawn to the cause of her little fall. A pure white rabbit stood on its haunches a few feet in front of her, watching. It blinked, and its small ears twitched, drawing a little coo from the girl. It was the most adorable thing she had ever seen.

The girl got to her feet slowly, afraid of scaring the rabbit away. However, the small creature hardly seemed intimidated, cocking its head as the little girl approached.

"Ah!" The girl gasped as the rabbit bounded away as she reached a hand towards it. She pouted as it ran away but was surprised as it stopped to look back at her. The rabbit continued to stare at her, and then towards the forest. The girl remained still, and the rabbit began to grow impatient.

It's foot stamped against the ground repeatedly and the girl took a hesitant step towards it.

"Do... do you want me to follow?"

The small creature let out a huff, as if she had finally gotten it before disappearing over a ridge.

"Wait!" the girl cried as she ran to catch up with it.

The rabbit matched her pace; it stopped, albeit impatiently, when she stopped to catch a breath, but always stayed out of her reach.

"Are you leading me back home?" the girl asked between heavy pants. The rabbit didn't respond, hopping across a small stream. "Hey!"

The girl chased the rabbit for what seemed like an indefinite amount of time. Finally, the girl came to a halt, resting her hands on her knees, but the rabbit continued its run up a small slope and into the remains of broken tree, hidden by the flora and new saplings. It took a few moments for the girl to regain her breath before she cautiously followed.

The tree was largely hollow on the inside, the girl marveled, with enough sunlight streaming through the cracks to illuminate the interior. The bark was smooth, and the floor seemed relatively even.

"Took you long enough."

The girl let out a yelp of surprise, eyes swiveling to the source of the voice. A figure in a ragged cloak sat towards the back where the light didn't quite reach. The hood cast the figure's face in shadows, making it impossible to make anything out. The rabbit was nowhere in sight.

The girl took a step back, glancing warily at the figure. Her mother and father had warned her about people like these. Creatures in shadows that would swoop bad children up to eat for dinner. Was this her punishment for getting lost?

The figure shifted, and she flinched.

"...You're scared," the voice observed. The girl realized it was a female's voice, though it was difficult to distinguish due to the harsh rasp it had. "I suppose you would be."

"Who... who are you?" the girl squeaked out.

"Me?" the voice asked, sounding unamused. A hand reached up to flip back the hood, and the girl gasped. Light pink hair that just brushed her chin, unnaturally pale skin, and cold, unforgiving emerald eyes.

"I am Sakura. The fact that you can see me and we were able to meet... I suppose it wasn't a complete failure." The woman got to her feet, straightening to her full height. "Come. We have much to do, and precious little time."

"Huh?" The girl whispered, eyes fixed on the woman who shared her features and name. "What do you mean? Why... why do you look like me? A-and Sakura is my name..."

The woman, Sakura, looked at her annoyed, and the girl flinched in response.

"I'm your future self, you dumbass."


	2. believe in yourself

"I'm your your future self, you dumbass."

Young Sakura gaped at the woman's bold statement.

"Y-you can't say that! That's a bad word!" she screeched.

The woman raised a single brow in a questioning manner.

"I can say whatever I want. You're four years old, correct?" the woman drawled, approaching her.

"How would you know?" Young Sakura said as she shied away.

"I'm you. Weren't you listening?" the woman practically snapped.

The woman sighed as she flinched away. Sakura glanced fearfully towards the exit, and then back at the woman who claimed to be her. She could try to make a run for it, but she had her doubts on how successful she would be. After all, what the woman claimed was impossible. There was no such thing as time travel. And there was no way she could grow up to be so vulgar and rude even to herself.

"Kami, this fucking sucks ass. Haa... Fuck me," the woman continued to curse, pacing around the small area, hand continuously running through her hair. The woman stopped, then turned to her. "You."

"...Me?"

"Listen carefully. Things are going to real fucked up in the future. To prevent that... you'll need to be stronger. You need to change things. That's why, from now on, I'm going to train you until you're at the very least, prepared."

Young Sakura gulped. It didn't sound like much of a choice. The woman seemed to be able to catch the doubt on her face because the next statement had the girl freezing.

"If you don't, and you tell anyone else about me, I'll kill you and everyone you care about. It'll be a small mercy compared to what's to come," the woman in a calm voice contradicting her words. Sakura hardly could comprehend the latter half of what she had said.

"What..? You can't- If you're really me... you wouldn't do that!" Sakura cried fearfully, head spinning. It was official. This woman was some impostor trying to make her do horrible things. A complete psychopath. A psychopath that would kill her and her family.

"...If I was really you, I wouldn't do that?" the woman asked. A bitter smile crossed the woman's face, and her eyes took on a maniacal glint. "You don't think I would just because you wouldn't?" The woman began laughing.

"What would _you_ know about me? I told you, I am your future self. I am you, but _you_ aren't me. The years we have lived and the lives we have lived vastly differ. You think I won't kill you or anyone else? Fuck off. If you don't start taking life seriously and start training now, you might as well die now since it'll all be fucking useless anyway."

Young Sakura took a step back, staring at the woman with wide eyes.

"I can see it on your face. You don't believe me. You think I'm insane. Well then brat, if you don't want to end up as fucked up as me, then you'd better start believing."

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. An overwhelming sense of fear overrode everything else and she fled out the entrance and back into the woods. Sakura couldn't remember which way she had come from, but it hardly mattered. She just had to get away from there. She stumbled several times, scratching herself on the forest floor, but she couldn't feel a single thing. Home. She had to get home. It was safer there... right?

Sakura burst out of the treeline, and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the tall buildings and the promise of safety. She had made it.

When her parents asked where she had been and why she had gotten so injured, she told them she had tripped while running through the woods. It wasn't like she was lying. She waited in fear the rest of the day, half expecting the woman to pop up and slaughter her. However, nothing of the sort happened.

That very night, she dreamed a dream that was not hers.

* * *

_"Sakura, Naruto. We need to go. There are several signatures approaching..."_

_A soft sad voice from behind. Broken and aged._

_"Sensei... why did this happen? This isn't... this wasn't supposed to happen!"_

_A boy with blonde hair with tears streaming down his face. Lonely and devastated._

_"Naruto. We should go."_

_Her own voice. Distant and empty._

_And a beautiful boy with a content smile on his face._

_Dead dead dead dead dead._


	3. catalyst

Sakura woke with tears in her eyes and what felt like a knife in her heart. She gripped at her chest, trying to soothe the burning ache rooted deep within her. It took a few minutes before her vision cleared and the pain had diminished to a dull throb.

She attempted to sit up, but the change in position seemed to set everything spinning.

" _It'll be a small mercy compare what's to come._ "

"Shut up, shut up," Sakura grumbled, stepping out of bed swaying only slightly. "It wasn't real. Just a bad dream."

"Sakura! Are you awake? Breakfast is almost ready!"

"Coming~!" Sakura shouted back, stumbling to brush her hair a few times before racing down the stairs. Sakura grinned as savory smell of miso reached her nose.

"Good morning, Kaa-chan, Tou-chan!" Sakura chirped as she stepped into the kitchen. Her mother turned her attention towards her, a smile playing on her lips. Green eyes, just a shade darker then her own, twinkled in the morning light.

"Good morning, sweetheart. How about you give Kaa-chan a good morning hug?" Her Kaa-san said as she crouched down and opened her arms. Sakura ran forth without hesitation burying herself in her mother's embrace.

Sakura rubbed her face against the crook of her mother's neck, inhaling the sweet scent of the jasmine perfume her mother favored.

"Aren't the two of you lively?" Kizashi chuckled from the kitchen table, newspaper spread out on the table and his hands warming a cup of coffee.

"Is that so bad? What better way is there to start a morning?" Mebuki retorted as she stood up with Sakura in her arms. "We have a long day ahead of us you know?"

"You're both going away?" Sakura asked with disappointment.

"We'll be back for dinner, sweetie. You're free to go play outside with your friends, but remember not to wander too far. Stick to the main roads, and don't follow strangers. The village is safe, but you never know what'll happen, okay?" her mother said, pinching her cheek.

"I promise, I promise," Sakura pouted as she batted away her mother's hand.

"Good," Mebuki said as she set down the girl after a quick kiss on the forehead. "And don't be late coming home like yesterday. And be careful not to hurt yourself either-"

"Give the child some space, Mebuki," Kizashi interrupted with a laugh. "We only have a few minutes before we need to leave, so we should try to get some food down our stomachs, lest we starve till lunch."

"Right, right," Mebuki sighed as she quickly ladled portions of soup into three small bowls while Kizashi set out the other side dishes and portioned out some rice.

Breakfast was a quick affair, and her parents left in a hurry after a few more warnings and a quick kiss to each of her cheeks. As the door closed behind them, Sakura couldn't help but feel a pang of loneliness. It was too embarrassing to say, but she didn't really have friends to play with outside at all. Maybe she'd just drop by the library today.

Sakura pocketed the money her mother had left, and locked the door behind her. She sighed as she trudged through the streets.

_"I can see it on your face."_

"Come, my eternal rival! Let us engage in another one of our youthful battles!"

Sakura jumped, turning towards the loud voice. She almost gaped when she spotted a teen in a green spandex. And that haircut and eyebrows-!

"I told you to leave it alone, Gai," a tired voice groaned. Sakura's breath almost stopped as her eyes rested on his companion. An aching pain began to make itself known in her chest.

Wild silver hair, a masked face, the lopsided headband-

Broken and aged.

"People are staring," the teen hissed, as Gai struck an odd pose.

_"You don't believe me."_

Sakura stumbled back, head spinning. Walk away, walk away-

Sakura broke out in a run, oblivious to the silver-haired teen who was scolding his companion.

"Look, you even scared a little girl away."

She ended up near the park, and her eyes seemed to search the area without her permission before resting on a lonely blonde who watched the other kids running around.

Lonely and devastated.

_"You think I'm insane."_

Sakura groaned, as the pain reached the level it had earlier in the morning.

It hurt, it hurt, _it hurt_.

She stumbled away from the park, barely aware of which way she was going. She wandered aimlessly, garnering more than a few concerned glances, but the only thing she could think about was getting far away enough for the pain to recede. And slowly but surely, it seemed to ebb away enough for her to gather her senses.

She let out a sigh of relief. Her brows furrowed as she took in her surroundings. Where was she? The district didn't look familiar, and there were barely any people on this street.

A hand tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Sakura whipped around in fright.

"Whoa there! Didn't mean to scare you there. You seem to be lost. Do you want some help?" a young teen asked with a hand outstretched in a peaceful gesture. But Sakura was no longer looking at him. Her eyes were frozen at the young boy behind the teen, clinging to the hand of an older boy.

Beautiful. _Dead_.

The pain flooded back, more intense than ever before. Not like a roaring fire, but screaming lightning being shoved through her chest.

Her vision went black.

_"Well then brat, if you don't want to end up as fucked up as me, then you'd better start believing."_

* * *

"Nii-san is much better than you!" Sasuke said hotly. Shisui only laughed in response, causing Sasuke to frown even further.

"Sasuke, Shisui is an excellent ninja with years of experience that I don't have," Itachi, ever the mediator, softly reprimanded.

"Aw, Itachi. I'm honored you think so highly of me," Shisui cooed, much to Sasuke's frustration. "Indeed, this fine chap here has braved the vast world outside village, fighting villains and saving princesses everywhere!"

"Sure you have," Sasuke said doubtfully. Itachi's lips twitched in amusement at his brother's face all scrunched up.

"I'll have you know just last week I subjugated a monstrous beast that wandered the lands. It was swift as the winds, claws that extended like knives, and had nasty, sharp teeth," Shisui claimed.

"Really?" Sasuke said, trying his best to sound disinterested.

Shisui grinned wildly.

"Of course I did. It was no easy matter, but I managed to catch the mighty tiger, and return it back to where it belonged."

"You caught a tiger?!" Sasuke gasped.

"Yup," Shisui said. "I swear on Amaterasu I did."

Sasuke seemed to look up at him with newfound appreciation in his eyes.

Truth be told, he had actually caught a cat named Tora(*tiger), but Sasuke didn't need to know that.

"Shisui," Itachi called, grabbing his attention.

"Hm?"

"Up ahead," Itachi tilted his head, and Shisui caught what his cousin was looking at. A young child, with pink hair of all things, was stumbling slowly up ahead.

"Oh? She must have gotten lost," Shisui hummed, eyes scanning her form. "People don't usually come near this district." Shisui frowned as the girl came to a stop, still swaying slightly. "She doesn't seem to be doing so well."

His mind immediately began listing possible causes, some less pleasant than others.

"I'll go help her out," Shisui said as he trotted ahead. It wouldn't be good if she was in bad condition and Sasuke were to see. Children should be children for as long as they could...

He tapped the girl's shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?" The girl jumped in surprise, looking ready to scream. "Whoa there! Didn't mean to scare you there. You seem to be lost. Do you want some help?"

He kept his face open even as he began taking inventory of everything. She was small, maybe Sasuke's age. Pale. Sweaty. Dilated pupils; from pain or from fear? Shortness of breath, but no obvious signs of injury...

"I'm a shinobi of Konoha, I can help you if you're in trouble. Hey... kid?" Shisui paused as the child stood stiff, not even looking at him.

"Is something the matter?" Shisui trailed off as he followed her gaze. She was staring at... Sasuke? Shisui felt unnerved. Because he had learned the hard way, any strange attention aimed at an Uchiha was bad attention. He shook the girl's shoulder.

"Look, kid- hey?!" Shisui shouted in alarm as the girl's eyes rolled into the back of her head before she collapsed into him.

The girl's breaths came in pants and a hand was firmly clenched into her clothing. Shisui let out a frustrated breath as he stood, cradling the girl in his arms.

"Oi, Itachi! I'm taking her to the hospital. Don't wait for me!" Shisui shouted as he dashed off.

Shisui jumped onto the roofs, glancing down at the girl trembling in his arms.

He pursed his lips as he sent a surge of chakra to his legs.

He needed to be faster. He may not know where she had come from or why she was so focused on his little cousin, but she was still just a child. She didn't deserve to be in much pain as she seemed to be in.

A cat watched with eerie green eyes as the boy flashed by.

(People say the smallest ripples can have a butterfly effect, but that isn't necessarily true. What people don't know is that the future isn't so simple to change. The world always tends to move in a certain direction, like a river that flowing back to the ocean, the destination is set. Small changes rarely alter its flow. And so history repeats itself, over and over. A small pebble cannot change the course of the future. But Shisui is no ordinary pebble. He is a pebble that can start an avalanche.)


End file.
